Air vent with floating closure

Abstract

An air vent for a dryer or the like in which the air vent is located outside of the building and has a light weight valve member which rests upon the end of a pipe leading to the blower outlet. Normally this light weight closure is effective to close off the end of the pipe and prevent the entrance of cold air into the pipe. When the blower is turned on, the light weight valve member floats upwardly and permits air to pass out through various openings. The vent includes a housing which encloses the light weight valve member and the upper portion of the pipe against which the valve member seats. The valve member may be of spherical form. The housing has a cover which may be either spaced from the housing to permit air to pass out between the cover and the housing, or fitted tightly to the top of the housing so that all of the air leaving the blower has to pass downwardly between the pipe and the housing.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An air vent designed to be located outside of a building and to be connected through a wall of the building to an air blower located within the building, said vent comprising: a housing designed to be secured to a wall of a building in closely spaced relation thereto and with the housing disposed substantially vertically;   a cylindrical pipe designed to be connected to an air blower and extending into said housing and having a cross-sectional area less than the interior cross-sectional area of the housing, said pipe terminating at an upper open end in a flat circular surface perpendicular to the axis of the pipe;   a plurality of spaced radial ribs secured to the pipe and the lower portion of the housing for securing the pipe within the housing with the axis of the pipe generally parallel to the axis of the housing so that when the housing is mounted vertically the upper flat circular surface at the open upper end of the pipe will be disposed generally horizontally, said spaced ribs providing unobstructed passages therebetween for allowing air to pass downwardly therebetween;   a light weight member having a cross-sectional area at least as great as that of the pipe but less than the cross-sectional area of the housing so that when the housing is vertical the light weight member normally rests on the flat circular upper end of the pipe to close such upper end but is free to move upwardly due to the air pressure when the air blower is operated to allow the air to pass downwardly between the radial ribs;   a cover secured to said housing at the upper end of the housing, said cover having a downturned flange secured snugly to the housing to prevent the entry of rain or other foreign matter into the housing; and   bracket means secured to the vent for securing the housing to a wall of a building in spaced relation thereto with the housing substantially vertical.   
     
     
       2. The air vent of claim 1 in which said housing is cylindrical and in which the pipe is secured concentrically within the housing. 
     
     
       3. The air vent of claim 1 in which the light weight member is a spherical ball having a diameter greater than that of the pipe. 
     
     
       4. The air vent of claim 1 in which the pipe has a diameter of 4 inches and the housing has an internal diameter of approximately 6 inches. 
     
     
       5. The air vent of claim 3 in which the distance between the upper end of the pipe and the cover is substantially greater than the diameter of the ball to allow the ball to move upwardly out of engagement with the upper end of the pipe. 
     
     
       6. The air vent of claim 3 in which the spherical ball has a weight of between 2 ounces and 3 ounces. 
     
     
       7. The air vent of claim 1 in which the light weight member is made of a low density plastic.